Young at War
by Pokemistress
Summary: Daniel Waters must survive his fourth year at Hogwarts at the mercy of the Carrows. But Dumbledore's Army is recruiting and he's eager to help his friends and his school. Let the battles begin!
1. Chapter 1: Survival of the Fittest

**Young At War**

Note: I don't own Harry Potter (wish like heck I did though), but I _looooove_ the series. One of my favorite parts of Deathly Hallows was how Dumbledore's Army fought the Carrows in Hogwarts, helping Harry from afar. So, I decided to write a fan fiction on what the Army went through that year that Harry was missing. Please enjoy. And review a lot, even if you just say "'S good", I like to know that I'm not writing for thin air.

**Chapter One**

_**Dumbledore's Army: Still recruiting**_

"What the…?"

Daniel, along with a majority of the students in the corridor, stopped to stare. They couldn't help it. The graffiti message was about ten feet by ten feet and painted on the wall in bright gold paint.

"Get on with it you little cockroaches! I'll curse the lot of 'ya into maggots! Wouldn't make too much of a change in my opinion."

Daniel took that as a cue to leave. If pigs could talk, their voices would be more charming than the Carrows'. Not by much admittedly, but it was something. He shuddered as he pushed his way through the crowd of people, eager to put as much distance between himself and the new "teachers" as possible. The last thing he wanted was another detention…

"Sorry!" he muttered hastily as he crashed into an Indian girl. He glanced at her for a second. He could have sworn that she was in his House, only a few years above. Yet she didn't seem to recognize him at all. A loud "bang" from behind drove him out of his thoughts. He spared a glance backwards and grimaced. A seventh year boy was screaming as Amycus pointed his wand at him. Alecto laughed wickedly, egging him on mercilessly. It was disgusting, but there was nothing to be done. A group of Slytherins had formed a thin but sturdy ring around the spectacle, preventing any aide from coming while giving them all a front-row seat. Daniel turned and ran full speed for his next class. Ever since the year had started, scenes like this became common. Hogwarts used to be the only place where Daniel felt safe, and now it was survival of the fittest in full swing. Everyone knew the drill: Shut up, agree with what you're told, move fast, and don't look back. So he did, and it kept him alive thus far. Though the thought of spending the remainder of his schooling living in this manner made him wish to break down and sob.

"You alright?"

Daniel nodded shakily from his seat in the back of the Transfiguration room. The speaker was a girl he saw several times before. Couldn't quite remember where though, and he was too shaken to figure it out. She smiled, her hair like a flaming waterfall.

"This'll all be over soon. Don't worry."

"Mr. Waters! Miss Weasley! Pay attention!" Professor McGonagall's voice snapped them back to reality.

"Sorry Professor," they chorused. Back to the world of Transfiguration and notes. Once the only norm in Hogwarts and the most boring. Now it was Daniel's few sources of comfort. He had no idea that a new escape route would soon open.


	2. Chapter 2: Danger! Best Learn to Scram

_Sorry it took awhile. Chapter two is here! _

**Chapter Two**

Daniel had been in Hogwarts for four years counting this one, and had never been more miserable. He was a half blood and was sub par, in the minds of the Death Eaters that now ran the school. As he walked down the corridor with his best friend Travis, he looked back on his previous years. They had all been extremely eventful, but they never seemed this dangerous. The first year he came to Hogwarts, it seemed fantastic. Special. Like nothing he'd ever dreamed of before. Of course his father had gone there and told him all about it. But still, it seemed as if no words could do justice to the magnificence of the castle, the grandness of the Great Hall, or the initial shock from the sight of the ghosts. And this year, things were even more exciting than usual. Men from the Ministry of Magic came with a special announcement: schools from France and Bulgaria were coming to take part in the revived Triwizard Tournament!Only those who were overage could enter, but anyone could watch and Daniel had eagerly joined in discussions with his fellowGryffindor friends about who the Hogwarts champion might be. Finally, the night came and the Goblet of Fire spat out the names.

First was Fleur Delacour, a beautiful part-veela from Beauxbatons. The Durmstrang champion was announced to be Victor Krum. Then, the much-anticipated Hogwarts champion. Daniel sat on the edge of his chair and cheered with the rest for Cedric Diggory. Then, something totally unexpected happened. A fourth name came out. _Harry Potter_.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked Travis. "I thought that there were only three champions."

Evidently he wasn't the only one that had thought this. Everyone was murmuring, hissing, or whispering among themselves. Still, to Daniel it was only a minor surprise at the time. He was thrilled that a Gryffindor got in, but in wasn't until several days later that he began to wonder why the buzzing hadn't died down.

"Don't you know?" asked Travis.

"Evidently not, or I wouldn't be asking you." said Daniel, feeling a bit annoyed. "What's the big deal?"

"It's like this," said Travis. "_Harry Potter_ got in. The boy that survived You-Know-Who's killing curse! You still with me?"

"Yes…" said Daniel, not really seeing where this was going.

"Then, during his first year here, no one really knows what happened, but they say that he fought You-Know-Who again for a Sorcerer's Stone."

"A what?"

Travis sighed. "Honestly, don't you know _anything_?"

"You don't know much more than I do," pointed out Daniel. "You only know this because your older sister told you."

"That's not important!" said Travis. "The Stone is really valuable though. It grants immortality and gold, but Harry stopped the Dark Lord from getting it. Then, during his second year, he found the legendary Chamber of Secrets and killed a Basilisk – that's a giant snake with a deadly stare – and rescued a girl from there."

"Wow," murmured Daniel. "Anything happen his third year?"

Unfortunately, Daniel never got a chance to recall Travis's reply. There was a loud explosion several corridors away. Several curious students, a large number of rubber neckers, and Peeves (singing "Smash those Carrows! Knock them flat! Push them on an old dead rat!) all immediately rushed towards the source of the commotion. Travis looked eagerly in that same direction and took a few longing steps forward.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you."

Daniel and Travis turned. A girl with wide eyes and blonde hair stood nearby, staring intently at them. Daniel found her manner somewhat creepy, as if she could look right into him. What in the world…?

"You'd better run, as I was saying," she continued. "The Carrows will probably be here soon, along with the Slytherins. If there's any doubt that you did it, then they'll probably hurt you."

"Did what?" asked Daniel.

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked Travis.

"I won't be here long," said the girl. "I'm just waiting for people. Oh good, here they are now."

Two boys were racing down the corridor with what appeared to be all of the strength they could muster. The first boy had sandy hair. Almost all other features were unrecognizable however. Daniel winced at the sight of the scratches and cuts on his face. The Carrows must really have been PO'd at him. The second boy was more familiar, though similarly beaten. He had a round face and dark hair. He was also the boy that was tortured earlier that day.

"Run Luna! They got here faster than we thought and are gaining" the dark-haired boy panted.

The girl Luna gave the two fourth years an enigmatic smile. "Hope to see you soon," she said. "Dumbledore's Army is always looking for new recruits."

"WHAT'S DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY?" shouted Daniel.

"For God's sake Luna, RUN!" shouted the unrecognizable boy. The three students took off. A second later, many other students came running away from where the explosion went off as well. Daniel could already hear the swearing of the Carrows. He and Travis looked at each other and decided that they too ought to get away and fast.

_More to come soon (I hope). Please give me feedback, I love it so! XD_


	3. Chapter 3: When Things Went Badly

_Yes! Got this one done much faster than before. _

_Fixed some factual errors in the previous chapters as well as the spacing. Hope you like it, along with this next chapter._

**Chapter Three**

"Right," Travis panted as he and Daniel made it back to the Gryffindor common room. "What in the name of Merlin was _that _about?"

"I'd say that that's the million dollar question," Daniel replied. His mind was fumbling, attempting to connect the miniscule number of pieces that it had to work with. The students seemed to all be revolting. That much was certain. They seemed older, almost all looked of age. He wasn't sure what houses they all were in, but he was sure that some were from Gryffindor. Probably some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as well. Almost certainly no Slytherins though. And they called themselves Dumbledore's Army…

Daniel shuddered slightly. Dumbledore. When their old headmaster was alive, _that_ was when everything seemed alright. The second he stopped drawing breath was the second that Daniel no longer felt safe in the castle. And he was dead. Dead and never returning. When his first year ended, everyone seemed to start fighting. Harry Potter and Dumbledore said that He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named had finally returned. The Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet all said that it was all lies. That Harry was just another attention seeker and that Dumbledore had lost his marbles. The bottom line was this: People could either believe the heroes or the government. Terrible truth or convenient lies. Daniel and his friends weren't fooled. They chose the truth, frightening as it was. Harry had saved the wizarding world so many times, Daniel couldn't believe that he only was in it for the fame. And old as he was, Dumbledore was smarter than any wizard or witch alive. It wasn't too bad at first though, when his second year started. There was a terrible schism among the students however, and Defense Against the Dark Arts was the worst ever, with that terrible Umbridge woman…

"I said, what were you thinking of?"

Daniel sat up from where he had been lying on his four poster bed. Travis had, indeed, been questioning him and he had not noticed.

"I was just thinking…when did it all get this crazy?" Daniel replied slowly.

"That's easy. Last year." Travis said with a grimace. "Anything else?"

"Also, I was thinking about Professor Umbridge."

"Seriously? Most people, myself included, try to _forget_ about her." Travis flopped down on his own bed and pointed his wand at various objects. "Right now, I'm just trying to remember the stuff that'll be on our next History of Magic test."

"Right, wasn't it about the goblin wars over a silver mine or something?"

"Yeah, led by Urican the Unwell."

"I thought that it was 'Unclean'"

Travis rolled his eyes. "Oops. I must have misheard Binns on account of your snoring."

"Very funny," said Daniel. "Isn't there a Charms spell you need to practice?"

"The Summoning Spell?" asked Travis. "Nothing easier. I've got it down right now. _Accio_!"

Daniel roared with laughter as the vase Travis was pointing his wand at wiggled around a bit. "_ACCIO_!" Travis said louder, jabbing his wand towards the vase. The vase gave some sort of midair flip and toppled off of the cabinet that it was sitting on.

"Well done," laughed Daniel, as the vase hit the floor with a smash. "_Reparo_." The pieces of vase instantly flew into place, the cracks melting away seamlessly. Daniel smugly picked up the vase and replaced it onto the cabinet, then swore as it shattered back into pieces the instant his hands let go of it.

"It looks like you need some practice as well mate," Travis chortled.


	4. Chapter 4: Memories and a Secret

_Sorry for the delay!_

_I hope to get more writing done soon. If not, then consider this chapter my gift to all you readers. Happy Holidays:D_

**Chapter Four**

Autumn was approaching slowly but surely and the leaves were changing colors as if to assure the students that time _was_ passing. It was all Daniel and Travis could do to concentrate on their fourth-year studies while dodging the Carrows and the groups of Slytherins that prowled the hallways. The Carrows unsurprisingly turned a blind eye to any attacks the Slytherins did on other students, but the instant a counter attack was attempted, even something like the Shield Charm, the "offender" was whisked off to detention, various forms of torture headed by Argus Filch, who had formerly just been the caretaker. Now, much to his delight, his boundaries extended beyond merely irritating the students to instilling fury and anger into the older ones and pure terror into the younger. For minor offenses, like being late to class or talking out of line, you were hung by your ankles or wrists from the ceiling for hours. For being mouthy to the Carrows, your punishment could extend from various degrees and numbers of cuts with a knife to having the Crucio Curse performed on you. Daniel shuddered. _That_ was what they were being taught in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes now. Not how to defend, but how to hurt!

Amycus seemed to know that one spell alone: _Crucio_. Daniel closed his eyes and he could remember that first lesson…

"_Alright you worms, listen and listen good!" Amycus had snapped at them all. _

_Daniel sat up, shocked at the nasty tone and the squat man that seemed to be teaching them. He was a Death Eater! Why was he here? What was wrong with the Ministry? With their Headmaster? No, Snape was one of them also. He'd never protect them._

"_You've got one thing you'll need to learn, so make sure you learn it good." Amycus glared at them all. "The Crucio Curse." _

The entire class gasped. Most of them shifted in their seats and some tried to figure out if it was a joke or not. Daniel glanced bleakly across the room at Travis. No good. This man obviously wasn't joking and he certainly wasn't going to give them any safety measures with this thing. 

"_But Professor that…that's illegal…" a shy little third year in their class stammered._

_Amycus gave the girl a look of pure rage and Daniel was surprised that she didn't keel over in a faint right then. He was pretty sure that it was impossible to Apparate inside the castle, but the girl looked like she would have swapped a dozen Sorcerer's Stones for one chance._

"_And what's that matter!" snarled the mockery of a teacher. "I'm yur teacher, and you'll do as I tell you, dammit!"_

"_Leave her alone!" shouted an older Ravenclaw boy. Amycus turned and shifted his piggy gaze on the boy instead._

"_What's yur name?" he asked dangerously._

"_Anthony Goldstein," the boy said. He stood defiant, but Daniel noticed a slight quiver in his voice and that his fingers were shaking a miniscule amount. He didn't blame him. If he were in Anthony's place, he'd be flat on the floor like jelly._

"_Well Anthony, you care about this girl?" Amycus asked, almost pleasantly. Anthony nodded slowly, trying to find where this was going. Daniel didn't know for sure, but he himself was willing to bet that it was not good._

"_Good. Vury good," said Amycus. Then, "CRUCIO!"_

_Anthony gave an earsplitting scream and fell over backwards. His chair was directly behind him and he knocked it over along the way, adding to the racket. No one laughed. No one dared. "You'll be our target then!" spat Amycus. "Everyone, line up and practice on him!"_

_The image was forever branded into Daniel's eyes. Everyone lined up, obediently. The person at the front of the line stammered "C-crucio!" and Anthony screamed, though not as badly as before. Then the next person. Then the next. Then the next. Daniel watched, as this went on, as Amycus nodded for some, and shrieked criticism at others. He could remember thinking over and over, why, why was this happened? Why won't it stop? And please, please, please, please let the bell ring before he was forced to use this terrible spell on this student. Please! The line was getting shorter and shorter…_

"IT'S HIM!" shouted Daniel. Maybe it was the memory that did it. Maybe it was fate. Right now, he didn't care. He had slid into reality for about two seconds, and those two seconds were enough. _ANTHONY GOLDSTEIN WAS WALKING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!_ Would this boy know about the mysterious Dumbledore's Army? Was it coincidence? He didn't care. He _needed_ to know! Ignoring an extremely baffled Travis, Daniel raced down the hallway, nearly knocking over several other students along the way.

"Wait! Please wait! _Accio Bag!_"

Anthony stopped, giving a shout of protest, as his bag flew off of his shoulder towards Daniel. He gave a grab for it in midair and gave another cry, this time of dismay, as there was a loud tearing sound and the bag ripped down the middle.

"Umm, sorry, I…can fix that," said Daniel somewhat lamely. He cursed to himself, but his tongue chose that minute to become shy. What was wrong with him?

"I'll live," muttered Anthony wearily. "_Reparo_".

Instantly, the torn seams healed themselves perfectly. The Ravenclaw hitched the bag up onto his shoulder and started to walk away.

"Whatsdumbledoresarmy?"

The garbled words shot out of Daniels mouth in an instant. Anthony turned, his eyebrows raised. "What was that?"

Daniel gulped. "Do you…know what Dumbledore's Army is?"

"Daniel?" Travis called, running up behind him, panting. "What's up?"

"Do you both want to know?" asked Anthony.

"Know what?" asked Travis as Daniel said "Yes please."

Anthony seemed to struggle internally for a minute, before digging into his pockets. "Here," he said, taking out two gleaming objects. "Umm…follow these."

"Sorry?" asked Travis.

Anthony leaned closer. "Wait until they go warm, then check the dates on them. You're both Gryffindors, right? Find Ginny Weasly, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Lavander Brown, any of those students are in your House. Tell them that you want to sit in on the next DA meeting and that Anthony Goldstein gave you permission, okay?"

Daniel nodded, taking the gold objects. He looked at them closer. Galleons?

"Oh, and those coins are fakes, so don't try to spend them, alright? They're more valuable than they seem," said Anthony as he started to leave. "Do _not_ let the Carrows get those or follow you, no matter what."

"Trust me," said Travis. "We won't."


	5. Chapter 5: The Room of Requirement

**Chapter Five**

One week. One more or less eventless week followed. Lessonwise, not much changed. There were new spells to learn, essays to write, and the usual dodging of the Carrows and other Slytherins. It was almost fully mind-consuming to plot out how to get to class without running into any of them and Daniel just thanked his stars that Snape rarely – if ever – left the Headmaster's office.

For the first few days, Daniel sat on pins and needles, waiting for the fake Galleon to warm up. Travis was utterly bemused by this behavior. He had been caught up on the little that Daniel had worked out, but still he couldn't understand why the organization held such fascination for his friend. Daniel almost couldn't understand his obsession either. He knew next to nothing about this strange group. But somehow he felt as if it held the answers to everything. He had gone for weeks running and screaming feeling lonely and scared in a place that he once considered a perfect haven. It made him want to break down and if there was any hope of this organization offering the slightest possibility of a way out, Daniel was determined to take it. Then, it happened.

"What the - ?"

Daniel had felt it at about the same time Travis shouted in surprise. His pocket had suddenly turned warm, not enough so to burn him, but easy enough to recognize. Without hesitation, he plunged his hand into his pocket and retrieved the Galleon.

"Ten dash twenty three. So, the twenty-third of October?" guessed Travis, who had just examined his own Galleon.

"Suppose so," muttered Daniel, his mind racing. Today was the twentieth. That meant that they had about two days, not counting this one, to wait it out.

* * *

Of course those would up being two of the longest days of Daniel's life. 

"And I thought that Christmas Eve was long," he complained one day, as they were waiting for the classroom to open for Charms. Apparently a student in the previous class had turned his chair into a four-legged ostridge, which managed to break quite a few desks as well as fill the room with feathers and droppings before Professor Flitwick had managed to get rid of it.

"Cheer up," said Travis. "We've just got to wait for tonight. DON'T EVEN THING ABOUT IT!"

The last comment was directed at Peeves, who seemed to have been trying to steal various items out of Travis's bag without anyone noticing. Peeves ignored the command except to laugh wickedly and scatter Travis's Herbology homework everywhere.

"I said STOP IT!" snapped Travis, tossing an ink pot at the poltergeist.

"Bad idea mate," said a fifth year Gryffindor named Warren Sythes as Daniel and the other students automatically took cover. Peeves caught the ink bottle, uncorked it, and turned it upside down as he swooped down the corridor, getting almost all of the students and Travis's scattered possessions stained with black ink. The Charms classroom was opened shortly after, letting in a group of grumpy and ink-stained students.

"Well I guess you can't say it's been totally uneventful," laughed Daniel, as Travis swore and wiped the ink out of his eyes.

"This day can't end fast enough," he muttered furiously, gathering his ink-coated books and bag and stumbled into Charms.

* * *

Travis and Daniel spent the evening in the Gryffindor Common Room, eagerly awaiting the meeting of Dumbledore's Army. Daniel was anxious and twitchy. Travis was irritable and grumpy. He had managed to siphon most of the ink off of his school things, but not before he somehow managed to set fire to his copy of _A History of Magic_ and quite a bit of parchment. 

"Cheer up," said Daniel. "You only scorched the front cover of the book."

"Oh thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," said Travis sarcastically.

"Who's there?"

Daniel jumped at the sound of a new voice and he and Travis turned. Standing in the doorway to the Boy's Dormitory was that familiar boy, with the scarred and bruised face. "Excuse me," the boy said, "But what are you doing up so late?"

"It's not so late," said Travis.

"It's midnight," the boy pointed out.

"Oh. Well what are _you_ doing up?" asked Travis, defiant and trying to regain composure.

"Are you Neville Longbottom?" asked Daniel.

"I am," the boy said. "Why? The Carrows after me again?"

"No," said Daniel. "We are."

The boy – Neville – stared at Daniel in confusion.

"Neville? We going?"

A girl stood in the doorway of the Girl's Dormitory. She had flaming red hair and looked familiar.

"Wha-? Oh yeah Ginny. It's okay, everyone else can come out now."

"Great," said Ginny. Then it hit Daniel. She was the girl that comforted him in Transfiguration class. More than that though, Daniel remembered her from years before. She was Ron Weasly's little, and only, sister. She had – rumor had it – fought with the Order of the Phoenix the night Dumbledore was killed. She was the greatest Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch. And she was Harry Potter's girlfriend too.

"Holy mackerel," murmured Travis.

Daniel pulled himself out of his memories and stared at the common room, now filled with people. The Indian girl – Parvati Patil – stood with her friend (Lavender Brown, Daniel guessed). The other cut-up boy was there, along with a younger boy standing with an even younger boy who Daniel believed where named Colin and Dennis Creevey. Craning his neck, Daniel could make out several students that he knew. Warren Sythes was there along with a Selene Talherty, a fourth year girl who Daniel shared several classes with.

"So…this is Dumbledore's Army?" said Travis.

"What's in Gryffindor House," said Lavender. "The others should be waiting for us."

"Waiting where?" asked Daniel.

"Never you mind," said Neville. "Go to bed. Don't ask if you don't want to get involved."

"We _do_ want to get involved," said Travis. "Why else do you think we were up all night?

"Anthony Goldstein sent us," said Daniel. "He gave us those fake Galleons to let us know when a meeting was."

"Fine," said Neville. "Come with us, find out what this is about, then see if you still want it." The portrait door swung open and the students slipped out.

"Careful not to make a sound."

Daniel jumped. Ginny had slid up next to him without him even notices. Her words were lighter than a breeze. "Where are we going," he whispered back, but she shook her head and motioned for him to be quiet.

It was some time later that they stopped before a blank strip of wall. Travis and Daniel looked at each other, then at Neville, who was walking back and forth, muttering something. The third time he passed, Daniel rubbed his eyes. A door had suddenly appeared! Silently, the students opened the door and entered a room, crowded with students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"Where is this?" murmured Travis in disbelief.

"Neville laughed at the looks on their faces. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement," he said.

_Please Read and Review! Thanks:D_


	6. Chapter 6: Dumbledore's Army

**Chapter Six**

_Many thanks to everyone who's reviewed this! Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it. ;)_

Daniel and Travis were herded into the strange room – the Room or Requirement? – and took in the strange scene. There obviously had to be far more students gathered in classes or the Great Hall every day, but somehow Daniel was under the impression that there were more students with him now than he'd ever seen in his life. The Gryffindors mingled into the crowd and began finding and greeting friends from other houses. Neville and Ginny stood off with the mysterious Luna. A boy wearing a Hufflepuff prefect badge was there, along with a Hufflepuff girl with blonde pigtails. Off in another corner, there was a small knot of Ravenclaws including a girl named Susan Bones (Travis pointed her out the year prior, when her aunt had been murdered by Death Eaters) and a boy with a few small cuts on his cheek, obviously Carrow handiwork. They were joined by Anthony Goldstein and a dark boy. Anthony took one look at the cut-up boy and shook his head.

"Terry, mate, you've got to be more careful," he warned.

"Like you're one to talk Anthony," Terry laughed.

Daniel turned as he felt Travis tugging on his sleeve. "Gerroffme. What is it?"

"Must be hard for that fellow. Know who he is?" said Travis nodding towards the dark Ravenclaw. "_Michael Corner_! Ginny's old boyfriend. And here he is and there she is, single now."

"She's dating Harry Potter," said Daniel, pulling his sleeve out of Travis' grasp and moving away from both subjects of the conversation.

"So? He's been gone all year. Public enemy number one. If he isn't at least to Siberia by now, he's definitely certifiable."

"Look, what do I care how many boyfriends Ginny's got? Do you have a list or something?"

"No," said Travis with a laugh. "My sister did. She told me that Ginny only had one other boyfriend besides Potter and Corner: Dean Thomas."

"Great," said Daniel, rolling his eyes. "Which one's he?"

"I don't think he's here," said Travis, frowning and looking around the room. "Weird, you'd think that he would be in this thing. There's enough people."

"Attention, attention!" called out a voice. All conversation died down as the speaker, Neville Longbottom, got to his feet. This seemed to be standard for everyone else there, as they formed a group facing him, Luna, and Ginny. "Now then," continued Neville, when all eyes were on him, "We have some very important business to discuss tonight. A mission, of sorts."

There was a buzz of conversation as students looked at each other in anticipation. Obviously they relished the thought of whatever this mission was. "Hush!" said Ginny, loud enough to drown out the drone of discussion. "You don't know what it is yet. It's going to be hard, much harder than anything that's ever been done before, but it must be done." She turned to Neville. "Go on then Neville, tell them what's going on."

"Many of you older students might remember this event that I am about to tell you about," Neville began. "No one younger than sixth year, however, was there personally when it happened, so listen up." He took a deep breath and continued. "During my second year, something terrible happened. Someone – no one knew who – was attacking students, turning them into stone statues."

"What?" gasped Daniel, looking at Travis. His friend made motions that meant _I'll tell you later_.

"Quiet!" said Neville as students began to whisper one another in fear and confusion. He looked grim and Ginny looked strangely pale and pained. "The attacker was caught. It was a basilisk. For those of you that don't know," he added, "The basilisk is the King of Serpents. It can live for hundreds of years and kills with a glance. If you avoid looking in its eyes, then it can still get you with its poisonous fangs. This basilisk was left in a secret place in Hogwarts called the Chamber of Secrets. Salazar Slytherin left both the Chamber and the serpent as a way for his heir to weed out the 'unworthy' students at this school. And that's just what happened that year. We were extremely fortunate that the students attacked were only Petrified."

Neville paused again and Daniel was sure that someone would ask who it was that commanded the basilisk. To his surprise though, no one did. No one seemed to dare. Ginny took a deep breath. "I'll continue from here," she said. "To make a long story short, Harry Potter learned of the basilisk and fought it in the Chamber of Secrets. However, he did not fight it on his own. He had with him a powerful tool. A sword. He used the legendary sword of Godric Gryffindor."

There was a gasp from the Gryffindors and puzzled looks from most of the other students. "What's the sword of Gryffindor?" asked Susan Bones.

"The sword", said Parvati Patil, "Was the last known artifact of Gryffindor's. It was goblin-made and incredibly strong. Legend has it that it became imbibed with anything that made it stronger and that it would only show itself to anyone worthy of being called a Gryffindor." There was a short burst of applause from the other Gryffindors. Parvati gave a smile, a small bow, and went back to standing next to her identical twin Ravenclaw sister, Padma Patil.

"Well said," replied Ginny. "But does anyone know where the sword is now?"

"Harry has it?" called out Colin Creevey.

"Unfortunately no," said Neville. "The sword had previously been in Professor Dumbledore's possession. So now, Snape has it."

There was a general cry of outrage at this. "Unfair!" shrieked Selene.

"Why that lousy –" snarled Terry.

"They can't _do_ that!" protested Travis.

It took about five whole minutes before the crowd quieted down enough for the three leaders to be heard again.

"Yes," said Ginny, "We know it's unfair. I know that the Gryffindor students hate the idea of that git of a Death Eater owning Gryffindor's last possession more than anything" – there was a burst of cheering from the Gryffindor students at that – "And I'm sure that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws don't like that any better."

"Darn straight we don't!" called out a seventh-year Hufflepuff boy.

"Justine, please!" said the girl with blonde pigtails.

"What? Why should I be quiet Hannah?" Justine said fiercely. "Something should be done!"

"You're right Justine," said Neville. "And something _will_ be done. We're going to steal the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office. Oh, we're not doing it right away," he said as whispers began to rise in the crowd. "But soon. Because we have no idea what powers the sword has, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that Snape should not have any chance to find out."

"Here here!" called out the Hufflepuff prefect.

"Thank you Ernie," said Ginny. "Luna, the plan please."

Luna stepped forward. She alone had seemed to show no anger, fear, or nervousness at the conversation that had taken place. She only seemed mildly interested, as if she were a reporter observing a gathering and not actually participating. "Ginny, Neville, and myself will do the actual theft," she said, her voice soft and melodic. "We do, however, require a few people to give us additional help. Several people will be needed to stage a distraction of sorts to get Snape out of his office. Perhaps two others must stand as lookout to warn us if anyone comes. It will be dangerous, so only volunteer if you are certain that you wish to help."

Luna stepped back and the children began talking amongst themselves. "What do you think?" Travis whispered, a grin on his face. "What idiots do you think will volunteer?"

Daniel didn't answer. He closed his eyes. He could only see one thing: The whites of the boy's eyes, opened wide in terror as he felt himself open his mouth and raise his wand and –

"I'll do it!" shouted Daniel, jumping up and down, trying to be seen. He noticed a chair that he was sure wasn't there a second ago and climbed onto it. "I VOLUNTEER!" he bellowed again. All noise ceased almost immediately.

"You're Daniel, right?" asked Ginny. "I know you from Transfiguration." She looked grave. "You're only a fourth year though and you've only just joined. You shouldn't –"

"Harry Potter won the Triwizard Tournament when he was a fourth year!" said Daniel. "If he can do that, I think that I can handle a lookout job."

"Don't even think about putting yourself on the same level as Harry!" said Ginny heatedly.

"He's got a point though," shouted Travis.

"Are you also volunteering then?" asked Neville.

"Maybe I am!"

"Travis," muttered Daniel. "Mate, are you sure about this?"

"Would I have offered if I wasn't sure?" Travis countered.

For a few seconds, Ginny, Neville, and Luna conferred among themselves. Then – "Okay," said Neville, "You two come up with the distraction. Luna tells me that you can run pretty fast, so it shouldn't be a problem. Anyone for lookout?"

He glanced expectantly towards the other sixth and seventh-year students and didn't seem to expect to hear "I'll do it!" from the fifth-year Gryffindor Warren Sythes.

"At least he's older," whispered Ginny, as Neville looked vaguely dismayed. "One more person for lookout!" she called out to everyone.

There was more whispering, with looks of anticipation. Then: "I'm in!" called Selene Telherty.

"What? No!" said Neville firmly.

"Why?" she asked, getting the look that she got when she was preparing to get stubborn. "I'm just as old as Daniel and Travis and you let _then_ in."

"That's different", Neville sputtered. "They're…uh they're…"

"Boys?" Selene asked, giving Neville a nasty look. "So you're refusing my help because I'm a GIRL? That's sexist! It's not even like this is my first meeting like _theirs_ is. I've been here before!"

"Enough," said Ginny. She had been looking at Selene for some time, giving her an appraising look. "She can come. But," she added looking at Selene, "you are NOT to take any unnecessary risks or do anything dangerous. Understand?"

Selene nodded, though it was obvious that the last disclaimer went straight in one ear and out the other. "We'll contact you guys when the time for this comes. Meeting adjourned," said Ginny tiredly. As he turned to leave, Daniel could have sworn he heard her saying "It's like looking in a mirror, it is. Now I feel bad about what I put Mum through."


	7. Chapter 7: Get Ready

**Chapter Seven**

_Sorry about the wait. But here's the next chapter! Again, thanks for the reviews and please be kind and give me more. It lets me know I'm loved! _

"Travis, you're joking."

"Of course not. It's perfect!"

"We'll be strung up by our livers if we're caught!"

"Then we just won't get caught, will we?"

The argument being waged in the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory had come as a direct result of various brainstorming. Following the end of the DA meeting, after they had snuck back up to the Common Room, the two boys had taken their mission to heart and began pouring all of their thoughts and imagination into ideas that would serve as the perfect means of distraction for Ginny, Neville, and Luna to steal Gryffindor's sword. Most of the ideas (usually suggested by Travis) were vetoed by Daniel on the grounds of being too outrageous or downright impossible to pull off: Letting a chimera loose in Snape's office, filling the hallways with gold and setting a horde of Nifflers in it, dropping five thousand Dungbombs simultaneously in the corridors just as classes let out…

"It's not like this idea's impossible," Travis pointed out. "I've got the materials for all of this. It'll be sure to raise enough hell to distract the Carrows _and_ Snape _and_ Filch and Mrs. Norris to boot. What's wrong with it?"

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Since they had no idea when the sword theft was going to occur, they knew that the ideal course of action was to come up with a plan ASAP, one that could be sprung at pretty much any time with maximum results no matter when or where. Travis's latest plan _did_ seem to fit those requirements. And he _did_ seem to have all of the materials needed for it.

"Alright, fine." said Daniel, relenting at last. "I really don't see what's wrong with my idea though."

"Daniel, mate, you're thinking too tame for Hogwarts," Travis laughed. "If you stood outside a Muggle building and shouted 'FIRE' you'd get a reaction. _Here_, people just send water out of their wands. You might scare the first years, but that's about it. Plus," he added, "We _still_ can raise a panic by shouting fire. We're just starting the fire as well, that's all."

"Oh, well, if that's all," muttered Daniel sarcastically. He looked at the mess of items all over the floor. "Where in the name of Merlin did you get all of these things? I thought that they were all banned!"

"I've been telling you since last year mate, the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is the best shop ever," said Travis. "They have this special service for sneaking in their products disguised as forgotten school things or packages from home using these really clever Concealing Charms…"

"You'd think the Carrows would notice a package of fire crackers being sent in though," pointed out Daniel, poking one with his foot.

"Careful with those," warned Travis, packing them back into the trunk. "Don't want to get started too early."

"Look, are you _sure_ this is the best plan?" asked Daniel, mentally running through a list of all the possible things that could go wrong.

"Daniel, stop worrying," said Travis, cheerfully snapping the trunk closed. "Besides, it's either this plan or the one involving Moaning Myrtle, the Exploding Snap Cards, and the Acid Pops"

* * *

It was in the middle of the first week of December when Neville approached Daniel and Travis.

"Have you guys figured out your…you know?"

"Oh yeah," said Travis with a grin while Daniel muttered "more or less."

"We're meeting in the Common Room then. C'mon," said Neville. As they followed him out, Daniel noticed that Neville looked quite pale beneath his scars and cuts. Travis was also unusually quiet and Daniel realized that he himself was beginning to feel quite sick. Why on earth was he doing this? The Carrows alone would carve off his skin and keep it as a trophy if they caught him. And they were also going to try to dislodge Snape from his office. They were going to die, he just knew it. Die, die...

"Um, Daniel? We're here."

Daniel felt rather foolish. Everyone was staring at him and he realized that he had had his eyes closed and was clenching his jaw. Feeling rather stupid, he cleared his throat.

"Nervous? Don't worry." Daniel nearly jumped a foot as he felt someone touch his shoulder. Ginny. She, Luna, Selene, and Warren were there as well.

"You'll do fine I image," Luna chimed in. "Neville, Ginny, and I are the ones going into the heart of the storm. If anything happens, we'll be the ones who will get caught surely."

"Thanks Luna," muttered Neville.

"Have you guys got whatever you need for your distraction?" asked Ginny. Travis and Daniel both nodded. They had each divided up the supplies and had everything they needed in their bags.

"Okay," said Neville, "Here's the game plan. This is all going to be tricky. Daniel and Travis, you both will set off whatever distraction you have planned. Be _very_ careful with this. It needs to be close enough to the Headmaster's Office to lure Snape out, but far enough away that he'll be gone long enough for use to get in and out. Since you two know what the distraction is, you alone will know where the best place to set it off is."

He turned to Warren and Selene. "You two will stay at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the Headmaster's Office. If you see anyone coming close, use the Galleons to send a message to the three of us as well as Daniel and Travis to get out. And you," he added to said boys, "be sure to leave right away if you are contacted. I mean it. _Get out!_"

"Okay," said Ginny, finishing up the plan. "We're going to cast Disillusionment Charms on Warren and Selene as well as each other to help us escape should the need arise. Daniel and Travis," she said, "We can put the charms on you too, but will you need to see each other to start the distraction?"

Mentally, Daniel ran through the planning in his head. There really was no time that they _needed_ to see each other. He and Travis looked at each other and nodded. "Put the charm on us. We'll be okay."

* * *

A few minutes later, Daniel bade a silent goodbye in the general direction of Travis. Luna's Disillusionment Charm worked quite well on both of them and Daniel found it almost impossible to see any of them. But even so, everyone still had to be careful. They weren't completely invisible and Snape was extremely cunning. Also, they were still solid and had to take care to not knock anything over or bump into anyone. Daniel walked down his segment of the corridor, his heart pounding. A bit of last-minute planning with Travis reminded him to go to the stretch of corridor with all of the tapestries, portraits, and suits of armor. Travis was to go the same length down the opposite end of the corridor. That was the plan. Split up, set off chaos at the exact same time, the same distance away. They wanted to isolate things though. It was going to be hectic enough if Snape came out alone. If they could keep the Carrows, Filch, and the other Slytherins away from the fray, it would make things much simpler.

Daniel fumbled with his bag and took out his materials. Virtually everything came from joke shops. First, the firecrackers. Travis had apparently spared no expense when purchasing those. There were easily an armload there, plus a few extra "for backup", as Travis had told Daniel. Daniel carefully set the firecrackers off to the side and worked quickly. His hands were shaking so badly that he knocked over the bag, spilling out the Stink Pellets, Dungbombs, various sweets, and high-quality trick wands. Daniel swept everything but the Stink Pellets and Dungbombs into his bag. Those, he kept carefully in one hand. In his other hand, he held his wand as steady as possible. Now all that was left was for Travis to signal him. Hours or possibly only seconds passed before he felt his pocket grow warm causing him to nearly fall over. Daniel shifted his wand hand to his pocket and felt for the fake Galleon. Selene and Warren had taught him how to use the coins for signals. Now it was up to him. On his signal, he and Travis would set off the diversion and Ginny, Neville, and Luna would be prepared fully to storm the Headmaster's Office. His fingers closed around the smooth, cool surface of the Galleon as he concentrated: _Calling Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Warren Sythes, Selene __Talherty, and Travis Fordes. Calling Ginny, Luna, Neville, Warren, Selene, and Travis…_

The Galleon grew warm for a second time and Daniel knew that wherever they were, the others were getting the signal. No time to waste now. He shifted back to his feet, wand at hand and firecrackers at the ready. It was showtime…


	8. Chapter 8: FIRE!

**Chapter Eight**

The instant his wand poked the back of the rocket, it flared to life and shot straight forward. He expected it to hit the wall and explode into nothingness, but much to his amazement, the firecracker seemed to take on a life of its own as it slowed to a halt, then turned from the wall and sped off out of sight. Feeling a strange amount of recklessness flood through him, Daniel leaned eagerly to the rest of the large pile of Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs and began setting them off down the hall. Almost every one of them dodged the walls, but several did smash into pillars or suits of armor with deafening crashes. Even then, then rockets refused to die, instead evolving into a brilliant array of animals borne from sparks: dragons and serpents writhing and snarling down the hallway.

Daniel leapt to his feet and looked around. Chaos seemed to be unfolding nicely. The tail of the rockets had set fire to the various tapestries and the occupants of the paintings were screaming with fear and fury.

"WHAT NOW, 'YA LITTLE BUGGERS?"

Daniel involuntarily jumped. Amycus Carrow was waddling down the hallway, her face angrier than he'd ever seen it.

"OY! ALECTO!" she shrieked. "THEY'VE STARTED A FIRE! COME QUICKLY!"

"WHO DID?" called the unpleasantly familiar wheeze of Alecto.

"I DUNNO, DO I? SOME STUPID KIDS! GIT OVER HERE!"

"WHY DON'T YOU QUIT SCREAMING THEN?"

"What's going on here?"

Daniel felt the blood drain from his face and backed up several steps. Snape had appeared. His voice was cold as ice, but it was obvious that he too was aggravated beyond precedent.

"Headmaster!" gasped Amycus. "Sir, some idiot students have gorn and set off a fire sir…"

"Are you sure it was only a fire?" Snape asked. His question was answered a second later, when a sparkling dragon gave a deafening roar and came charging around the corner and down another corridor.

Snape swore and for a second his eyes seemed to rove over the site where Daniel was crouched silently. "After it!" he snapped. "Whatever you do, don't Stun or Vanish them. GO!"

The Carrows had only just run down the hallway past Daniel when Filch came shuffling up to Snape as fast as his rheumatism allowed.

"Headmaster!" he gasped, pointing back the way he came. "Fireworks…sparks…noise…"

"Yes I know," said Snape furiously, a violent look in his eyes. "I'll go take care of it. You stay here. If _any_ students come by here, detain them until I can return to question them.

As Snape strode off, Daniel mentally swore to himself. There was quite a length of corridor between them and the Headmaster's Office, but still Filch was on high alert and would surely see Ginny, Neville, and Luna leaving, especially if they had a large sword with them. He reached slowly for the various items he had left in his pockets. Dungbombs? Stink Pellets? Both would distract Filch if it came to that, but Daniel wished that he had something else, something that wouldn't cause so much of a commotion. He could try Stunning Filch if it came to that, but he hadn't really Stunned a person before and had the feeling he wouldn't have the time to try twice…

A meowing around his ankles caught Daniel's attention and he froze in the process of groping through his pockets. Mrs. Norris was twining herself around his legs, sniffing him and giving a small but audible _mew_ once in a while. Daniel inwardly groaned. Of course. Filch never went anywhere without his mangy cat. And even if she couldn't see him, she could still smell Daniel! Could he make a break for it? Filch would probably hear his footsteps, but surely he could outrun the aged caretaker.

"What is it, my sweet?" asked Filch, walking over to his cat. "Do you smell someone? The nasty student that caused all of this trouble?"

Daniel was about to think that there was no help for it when his fingers closed around two slightly sticky objects. Magical candy. Could these somehow incapacitate Filch and Mrs. Norris? He slowly pulled one out of his pocket, careful to move so as not to attract Filch's attention. Daniel kneeled down gently, waited until Mrs. Norris was purring for her master, then grabbed her neck and forced half of the candy down her throat like he did with his stubborn Labrador Retriever back at home (the dog would _never_ willingly take his medicine). Before he could remove his hand from her neck, the cat gave a tremendous gag and began to vomit spectacularly over the floor.

"What the devil – WHO'S THERE?" screamed Filch.

Taking advantage of the caretaker's wide-open mouth, Daniel leapt forward and shoved half of the other candy into his mouth. The two of them crashed to the floor as the sweet went down Filch's throat. Daniel clambered to his feet instantly. The Squib did not. Daniel grinned and threw two purple sweets on the floor – the other halves to the candies. It's not that he didn't relish the idea of Filch and Mrs. Norris being incapacitated indefinitely, but he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he had left them unconscious and vomiting for who knew how long.

* * *

"It worked then?"

The first thing Daniel saw when he entered Gryffindor Common Room was Travis's tired and sweaty but triumphant face.

"Like a charm," said Daniel, moving to sit down as well.

"Hang on," said Travis. Then "Oy! Warren! He's back. Could you dis- Disillusionment him?"

"Sure thing," muttered Warren, getting up tiredly from another armchair. Daniel jumped slightly. He hadn't noticed him there.

"I'm over here," he said helpfully as the fifth-year came over. A few seconds later, he was visible again and – from the looks on Travis and Warren's faces – looked just as bad as they did.

"Okay spill. What happened?" asked Travis.

Daniel collapsed into a chair and told them all that happened to him. Travis listened with delight and whooped when he heard about how Daniel escaped from Filch and Mrs. Norris.

"Told you those Skiving Snackboxes were useful, didn't I?" he laughed.

"I guess so," said Daniel, a smile starting to creep across his face. He actually did it! He pulled off his half of the plan and nothing went wrong! "So what happened to you mate? Snape went off in your direction."

"Well he showed up alright, and I thought 'this is it', since he's pretty clever so I was sure he'd figure out a way to stop the rockets in about a minute. Then I was saved at the last second," Travis explained.

"Dumbledore's Army?" guessed Daniel.

"Nope. Peeves," said Travis with a laugh. "Only time in four years I've been happy to see him. He took up chucking bits of broken armor at Snape and swooped around adding all kinds of noise. I escaped in the confusion."

"How soon do you reckon Snape sorted it out?" asked Daniel after the three of them stopped laughing.

"Dunno. I didn't stick around." Travis suddenly stopped laughing and looked troubled. "Mate, I wanted to stick around and make sure it worked, really I did. But when Snape showed up, I just got so scared. I didn't know what to do. I was sure that he could see me; he kept glancing where I was standing. One time, he actually took two steps towards me and I thought I was going to faint, but then he was distracted when Peeves lobbed a helm at him. I took the opportunity to run for it. I'm sorry!"

"It's alright Travis," said Warren firmly. "Snape's dangerous. He killed Dumbledore for heaven's sake!"

There was a pause in the room as everyone shivered slightly at the reminder. That one event was the catalyst for this entire nightmarish year. And the cause of it was still in the castle, controlling everything, everyone.

"What happened with you?" Daniel finally asked Warren.

"Not too much, really," said Warren. "We got your signal and Selene and I waited at the entrance to the staircase while Ginny, Neville, and Luna went up there. But we had to run for it."

"Did someone come?" asked Travis quietly.

"We heard footsteps coming back from Travis's corridor. Selene and I panicked and signaled the three up in the office to hurry up and that we were leaving. Both of us ran for it."

Daniel felt himself turn cold. "Where's Selene?"

"She went upstairs to the Girl's Dormitory," said Warren. "She was exhausted. Tension from nerves and all that. I can't say I blame here."

Daniel began to feel much better and breathed slightly easier. "Where's Ginny, Luna, and Neville?" he asked.

Warren looked distressed. "I don't know. They haven't come back yet. I knew they'd take more time, what with carrying the sword, but I haven't seen them at all. I have no idea where they are."


	9. Chapter 9: Dream Away

_Sorry for the delay! I was trying to get my muse to strike, but she seemed to be on strike (stupid writer's strike!). Here it is though, chapter nine._

**Chapter Nine**

Luna, Neville, and Ginny didn't show up for the rest of the evening and Daniel went to bed more than a little concerned. Of course the three students could have taken refuge for the night in the Room of Requirement, but somehow he felt it in his bones that they were in worse trouble. He turned over in his bed and sighed. At the other side of the Dormitory, he heard the creaking of bed springs telling him that Travis was also awake and restless. Daniel wondered how his best friend felt about their mission. Did it succeed? Fail? Was it his fault if it did fail? Would it have been better if he never volunteered and let an older, more experienced DA student take the job?

Daniel stared up at the ceiling, taking in all the contours and curves in it. Shadows cluttered the stone, only broken up where moonlight splashed across it. The shadows began to shift as the moon moved across the sky and he could almost see faces and shapes and animals running across the ceiling. He could see a cat prowling about and Selene smiling at him and one of the firework dragons flying at breakneck speeds and it opened its mouth and a burst of flame shot out, lighting up the ceiling with its brilliant yellows and reds and oranges. Only the ceiling seemed to have vanished and was replaced with the velvety blue night sky, scattered with diamond-like stars. Daniel felt weightless and realized he was on a broomstick hovering hundreds of feet in the air and even though he never rode a broom before, he felt safe and natural because all of the other students and teachers were on brooms up with him. Then the Carrows swooped in and pulled out their knives and wands and fired off hexes and slashed at the students and the kids screamed and fell off their brooms towards the ground below. The teachers tried to grab the falling children and pull them to safety, but the Carrows blocked their path. Daniel could see other students dive-bombing the Death Eaters and rescuing the falling students and even though they were in the line of fire and Daniel wanted to help, he was paralyzed and he _knew_ that somewhere in the darkness, Snape lurked like an overgrown bat, waiting just out of sight, prepared to strike. And then the Carrows looked Daniel right in the eye and against his will, Daniel turned his broom towards the nearest student, a scared-looking third-year girl with short blonde hair, and speed towards her and he could see the look of fear in her eyes and a look that said she knew he betrayed her and her mouth was open in a scream as she fell and no sound came out so no one knew she was falling and –

"Fine! Don't get up. Just don't complain to me if you're starving by lunch."

Daniel sat up in bed, his heart hammering and his mind reeling. For a second, he tried to remember why he felt so scared and guilty. Then he remembered and groaned.

"What's the matter?" asked Travis. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah," muttered Daniel, recalling every vivid detail.

"You're awake now though. And it's not real."

"I wouldn't say that," muttered Daniel.

"How's that?" asked Travis distractedly, trying to locate one of his socks, which was apparently lodged somewhere under the bed.

"Nothing," sighed Daniel. "I'm awake now. You go on ahead, I catch up to you in the Great Hall."

* * *

It wasn't so odd, Daniel reflected as Travis left the Dormitory. Dreams were a product of whatever was on the dreamer's mind before sleeping. He was worried about the heads of the DA. And tied up in the DA was his guilt.

He sighed again and rubbed his aching forehead. His brain felt like it was clogged full of sludge. At least it was Saturday. No lessons to bother him. He'd eat, try to get his homework done, maybe try to check the Room of Requirement for Luna, Neville, and Ginny. Anything to get his mind off of that dream.

But no matter what, he couldn't get that look out of head. That scared look on the girl's face. It was identical to the one before…


	10. Chapter 10: Mission Results

Erm, yes I'm still alive and writing this

_Erm, yes I'm still alive and writing this. Enjoy! And keep reviewing it!!_

**Chapter Ten**

The mystery of the missing DA students was solved by breakfast of that morning. Following his awakening by Travis, Daniel had dressed quickly and stumbled down the Great Hall, his mind still feeling like mush. He sincerely hoped that no one would ask him how the mission went. It was all he could do to remember his name at this time of day. He randomly threw food onto a plate and began to slowly eat. Midway through a bite of sausage, Daniel was poked by Travis. He tried to ignore it and continued to eat. Travis poked him harder and – when that didn't work – jabbed him in the ribs with his fork.

"What was that for?" asked Daniel furiously, rubbing his side.

Travis said nothing, but only pointed. Daniel followed his finger and gasped. Ginny and Neville were seated side by side, looking somewhat shaken and very exhausted. Daniel quickly turned and began to scan the Ravenclaw table. Yes, there was Luna. She looked a bit less shaken, but also very tired.

Daniel felt as if clouds had moved from the sun. They were alright! "Ginny! Neville!" he shouted, starting to stand up. The pair turned, saw him, and then to his amazement frowned and began to motion for him to sit down and stop shouting. Daniel was stunned, but closed his mouth. Travis grabbed him by his belt and yanked him back onto the bench.

"I just saw them now," Travis whispered to Daniel. "I know they weren't in the Common Room this morning."

"Where do you reckon they were all night then?" Daniel whispered back. "They look more tired than me! And where did they stash the sword of Gryffin – "

"Shut up!" Travis suddenly hissed, clapping his hand over Daniel's mouth and turning both of them towards their plates. He dropped his hand and resumed eating, his hands shaking.

"What's the matter with – "

"Shhh!!"

A second later, Daniel caught sight of a couple of lumbering Slytherins slump by. They seemed to be looking curiously at him. Now Daniel understood Travis's behavior. He knew the Slytherin boys mainly by sight, but he did know that their names were Crabb and Goyle and that their fathers were both Death Eaters. According to Travis, neither was extraordinarily bright. They probably had no idea what he and Travis were talking about. Even so, Daniel didn't like the way they began to whisper with their other Slytherin friends at their table, or the way the pair continued to stare disturbingly towards him.

* * *

Following breakfast, Daniel and Travis returned to the Common Room. Daniel had an Herbology essay to finish and Travis was complaining about the obscene amount of Transfiguration work Professor McGonagall assigned them, but the main reason Daniel hurried was because he was eager to intercept Ginny and Neville for news of their adventure the previous night. He needn't have hurried. An hour later, they still hadn't shown and the excitement to interrogate them had diminished somewhat and was replaced by irritability as Daniel scanned his Herbology textbook for how to start growing Mandrakes.

"I'm sure it's got something to do with hanging," he muttered, scanning the pages. "Wasn't that it? When a man is hung, underneath him is where they grow."

"That's a Muggle superstition," said Travis, irritably (he was still attempting to Transfigure his white mice into cotton balls. Thus far, they were definitely fluffier but still had tails and were running around the table).

"No, I'm pretty sure that's it…" insisted Daniel.

"Daniel, do you honestly believe that they hung a bunch of men to grow the Mandrakes in our greenhouse?"

"Well…no, but they could have imported them from somewhere…"

"Like where? Spain? OY! Get back here!"

That last comment was aimed at one of the cotton ball-mice that managed to elude his fingers, work up a good bit of speed, and leap fantastically off of the table. Travis jumped up to catch it, but was a split second too late. As the former rodent sprang from the table, it was caught mid-air in Neville's outstretched palm.

"Nice catch," said Travis.

"No problem," said Neville dully. "I'm used to escaping animals."

Daniel looked at Neville and at Ginny, who stood behind him and his initial thrill at seeing them alive and well began to melt away. Both looked exhausted and disappointed. "What happened last night?" he asked.

Ginny collapsed into an armchair and began her tale. "Your ruse worked perfectly," she said. "Snape left the office wide open and the three of us got in fine. We were really quiet and didn't even wake up the portraits. But then, things got a bit more complicated. The sword was in a glass container, with no doors or hinges or latches or anything."

"We couldn't figure out how to open it," said Neville, taking up on the story. "We had no idea what spell to use. After a few minutes up there, we started to hear some really loud crashes downstairs ("That must have been Peeves," muttered Travis) and decided to throw caution to the winds. Ginny performed a great Reducto spell on the case and we hoped that the noise outside would cover us up. Unfortunately, a lot of the paintings woke up also."

"They made a lot of noise in the confusion of figuring out what was going on," said Ginny. "When they figured out what we were doing, most of them shut up so that we could sneak out. I don't think that they liked Snape any more than we did. But that one, Phineas Black, the old Slytherin Headmaster, he raised the cry immediately. We were caught on our way down the stairs."

"I swear, my heart froze," said Neville. "I thought for sure he'd kill us where we stood. He took one look at us – even though we had the Disillusionment Charm on us still – raised his wand, and lifted the Charm. Then he just stared at us, standing there holding Gryffindor's sword. Without a word, he leaned in and grabbed the sword from us."

"Oh my god…" muttered Travis.

"What happened to you after that?" whispered Daniel.

"He herded us upstairs into his office. That git Phineas began jabbering to Snape about how we were dirty thieves who should have an example made out of them. Snape demanded to know why we came for the sword, what we intended on doing with the it, and who else was involved in the plot."  
"You didn't tell him anything though?" asked Travis hopefully.

"We didn't _tell_ him anything ourselves," said Ginny. "But…he just kept staring at us…he was looking into our minds, I know he was. We tried to keep ourselves as emotionless and calm as possible, but I have no idea what he got."

"Oh," said Daniel. He looked at Travis. "Looking into their minds?"

"It's an ability Snape has," explained Ginny.

"Oh, that's terrific," sighed Travis. "Not only do we have to worry about his catching us doing stuff, but now we have to worry about him reading our minds to find out stuff!"

"What happened after that?" asked Daniel.

"Actually, the punishment itself wasn't too bad," said Ginny. "We were all sent into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to gather some larvae to feed the Bowtrees for his next Care of Magical Creatures class."

"You don't call that 'too bad'?" asked Travis.

"Well nothing bothered us."

"Anyway," said Neville, "The upshot is that it was a long night with virtually no results."

"It could have gone worse," pointed out Daniel. "And there's always next time."

"No there won't," said Ginny miserably. "I heard Snape saying as we left that he was sending the sword to a vault in Gringotts.

There was a long silence, as the four of them took in all of this information. Finally, Neville spoke. "Everyone's got to lie low for a bit. If Snape figured out who's in the DA, then we're all in danger. When we feel it's safe, we'll contact you for another meeting."

He and Ginny stood up and left for their Dormitories. Daniel looked back at his Mandrake essay, but was unable to concentrate. It had seemed so easy to join the DA. But the resistance was looking more and more like a tangled web and less like the easy path forward he had thought. Next to him, Travis heaved a huge sigh. "If Snape has me chained up tomorrow, d'ya think McGonagall will let me off of this assignment?" he asked hopelessly.

* * *

Despite Travis and Daniel's terror and anxiety in the days that followed, there seemed to be no sign of retribution for their roles in the attempted sword theft. Alecto and Amycus continued to force their terrible "teachings" onto the classes and butted heads with various DA members who stood up to them. Filch still muttered direly and chased students for idiotic offenses, but showed no more attention than usual to Daniel or Travis. Snape was still mysteriously absent from all life in Hogwarts and if he knew the identities of all of the DA members, he appeared to give no indication of it. Selene and Warren, who were updated on the results of the sword-stealing mission, also assured Daniel that they seemed no more persecuted than usual. The only strange thing Daniel noticed was the occasional creepy feeling that someone was always standing behind him or following him. But after checking behind him and even throwing things behind him (in case the "follower" was invisible), he dismissed these feelings to nerves and paranoia. Sure enough, after a week or so passed Daniel no longer felt followed or in danger, though he was careful to keep his eyes open and avoid traveling places alone, lest he be attacked or dragged off.

"What, do you think the Carrows are going to kidnap you while you're going to the toilet?" asked Travis impatiently as he was forced to follow Daniel into the fourth-floor bathroom and wait for him between classes.

"I don't want to take a chance!" said Daniel irritably. "The Carrows are idiots, but the Death Eaters are cunning and dangerous."

"Like their going to kidnap a group of rebellious teenagers," scoffed Travis. "I think they've got more on their minds than that, Daniel."


	11. Chapter 11: Christmas Break

_Sorry for the wait! I'm trying to get to work on this faster. Next chapter is here though!_

**Chapter Eleven**

"Don't you feel stupid now!"

"How was I supposed to know?"

"I bet you're glad I was so paranoid!"

"Will you shut up about that?"

"What's going on here?" asked Selene, walking into the Gryffindor Common Room. Daniel and Travis looked up from their argument.

"Luna's been kidnapped!" said Daniel.

It was three days after the start of Christmas break. In the weeks leading up, Daniel had managed to sufficiently relax. He no longer forced Travis to follow him everywhere (to Travis's relief) and began to look forward to several long weeks free of classes with the Carrows, jeers from the Slytherins, and tiptoeing past the entrance to the headmaster's office (lest Snape come down and catch you). Daniel was going to be spending the holidays at Hogwarts. That had been planned ahead between him and his parents. As his mother was a Muggle, she was in danger of being attacked by Death Eaters. For her safety his father decided that they would go into hiding while Daniel remained at Hogwarts. Travis's family was pureblood and not in as much danger, but they still agreed that it would be safer for him to be inside Hogwarts than outside, with the increasing number of stories of children being abducted or killed while traveling to or from home. Selene was to remain at Hogwarts purely out of tradition (according to her the little town she came from was too boring to be worth the trip) but Warren had plans to meet his family for the break.

Resigned to spending his Christmas break hiding away, Daniel was actually looking forward to the holiday. That very day, he, Travis, and Selene were chatting happily at the Gryffindor Table at breakfast. All seemed well in the world and even Neville and Ginny appeared relaxed. Then suddenly, the two of them simultaneously got identical looks of confusion on their faces. As the confusion melted into fear, Daniel felt increasingly anxious. What had happened? He caught Ginny's eye and gave her a questioning look. She leaned over to him and mouthed the words "Luna's gone".

In the mad scramble of students leaving the Great Hall after breakfast, Neville managed to give Daniel the little information they received over the coins: Luna was snatched off of the Hogwarts Express and kidnapped by Death Eaters about a day ago. Daniel was only just able to relay the story to Travis in the Dormitory and when Selene entered, he repeated the story to her.

"I don't believe that," gasped Selene when Daniel had finished. "She was…the Death Eaters just took her? Where? Why?"

"I don't know," said Daniel. "Neville said the message she sent was short. She mustn't have had time to tell those things. Or she didn't know."

"I can't believe they're kidnapping students now," muttered Selene, sinking into a chair.

"Yeah, I know," said Daniel, shooting Travis a look.

"Look, that's different!" said Travis irritably. "This couldn't have just been because of the DA. Luna's dad runs this newspaper called _The Quibbler_ and apparently it's really pro-Harry Potter. Chances are, they kidnapped Luna because he wouldn't shut up."

"Are the DA meetings still going on?" asked Selene. In the time that had followed since the attempted theft of Gryffindor's sword, there were a handful of meetings, none of which involved the theft of magical ancient artifacts. Mostly they involved keeping the members up to date on recent events in the Wizarding world as well as teaching useful self defense spells (_proper Defense Against the Dark Arts classes_, Daniel thought).

"I don't see why not," put in Travis. "Neville and Ginny are still here."

Daniel sighed. Grateful as he was for the support and courage he found from his new friends in the DA, he found himself worrying much more. Luna was gone now. Who knew who'd be next?

* * *

Despite all of this, Daniel and his friends managed to pass Christmas break quite pleasantly. They mostly remained in the Gryffindor Common Room playing Exploding Snap (Daniel was getting very good at learning when to dive backwards from the ticking deck), attempting Wizards Chess (which Daniel was terrible at; he usually watched Travis and Selene have at each other), admiring the snowy scenery from the windows (Snape forbade any students to leave the school now, probably so that no one could try to run away), and experiment on different flavors of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean (Floor Polish was surprisingly tasty).

Meanwhile, the holiday cheer was spreading to more than just the student body. Portraits dressed up more than usual and met for extravagant parties, usually in paintings depicting Dionysus. Peeves swooped down corridors, whacking anything within reach with a prickly pine tree branch while cackling "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and once Daniel walked past a portrait of a little knight named Sir Cadigan who shouted out to him heartily "A very merry Christmas to you sir!"

Daniel woke earlier than usual on Christmas morning to find the usual pile of presents at the foot of his bed.

"Merry Christmas," said Travis, who had evidently awoken earlier, as most of his own pile had been unwrapped. "And thanks for the Chocolate Frogs."

"No problem," muttered Daniel, working on his own pile. He had a bit of trouble shopping for presents, as Hogsmeade trips were banned.

Later in the day, Daniel and Travis met with Selene for Christmas dinner and laughed and chatted freely for the first time that year. Hogwarts felt friendly again and if Daniel glanced at the Headmaster's seat in the Great Hall, he almost expected to see Dumbledore drinking deeply from his goblet and telling jokes.

Daniel took in as much of the excitement and the cheer as he could. In the midst of friends he forgot his fear quite easily. But there were times when he was alone and he felt it. Outside of the castle the atmosphere was heavy, like the air before a storm. The beginning of the end was coming fast and he was terrified to face it.


	12. Chapter 12: Disappearances

Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

In the weeks that followed the Christmas holidays, all seemed relatively calm. The students who went home returned and Daniel, Travis, and Selene eagerly greeted Warren. Now that the vacation was over, lessons began again and were more difficult than ever. Final exams were coming and everyone was busy preparing. Daniel wasn't entirely sure of what would be on the Defense Against the Dark Arts or Muggle Studies exams. Cursing half-bloods maybe. Travis remained slightly more optimistic and suggested that the Carrows simply wouldn't bother to give them any exams which, as Warren pointed out, would be probably their _only_ redeeming value and not a very large one at all.

Dumbledore's Army continued to hold lessons in secret, usually towards the evening. For hours, they would practice Stunning, Disarming, Summoning, and even the Patronus Charm (something Selene picked up on after two lessons but Daniel and Travis had no luck at). When it was as late as they dared stay out, the members would leave in small groups, with the older students of each house leading the younger. Although the lessons severely cut into Daniel's study time, it never crossed his mind to skip them. He knew it was dangerous and if he was caught the Carrows would certainly hang his skin on a door as a warning to other students, but while in the Room of Requirement he never thought of those things. All he could think about was how all the spells seemed easier with Ginny explaining them or how surprised he was when Luna produced her hare Patronus for them. When he returned to the Dormitories, his mind played back each meeting: Selene Summoning a book from across the room, Warren repairing a chair that a stray spell set on fire, Travis producing his first Patronus (a shapeless mist) and all of them together, joking and feeling safe.

Easter Break came and Daniel found himself drowned in homework in preparation for his final exams. As a result, he began to see more and more of the library until he was quite certain he had memorized every minute detail of it. It was a particularly sunny morning while Daniel was frantically attempting to locate five examples of false reports of Transfiguration on European princesses for Professor McGonagall that Selene came looking for him. He took one look at her face and braced himself.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"It's Ginny" she answered.

Daniel felt his heart skip a beat. "Was Ginny kidnapped too? What happened to Luna? Are they alright?"

"Let me finish!" Selene snapped in a hushed voice. "They're fine. They're just … going to be around for a while."

She finished the story as quickly as she could. Apparently while on the run, Harry Potter had accidentally been captured by Death Eaters by uttering Voldemort's name. Though he managed to escape imprisonment in the Malfoy's Manor, the Death Eaters learned that Harry was also traveling with his close school friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

"So now that they know that the Weasleys are helping Harry, the family had no choice but to go into hiding," explained Selene. "Neville told me that Ginny contacted him and said that she was safe with her family, but couldn't return to Hogwarts after the vacation.

"How's Luna fit into this?" asked Daniel.

"She was being held captive in the Manor as well. Harry rescued her, Dean Thomas, and some other captives. She contacted Neville as well. Apparently she hid the enchanted Galleon by holding it in her mouth when they searched her.

Daniel gave a whistle. "How about that? Houdini would be proud."  
Selene gave him a confused look. "Who's Houdini?"

Daniel began to explain, but both were forced to flee the library as Madame Pince chased them out for being too noisy.


	13. Chapter 13: Breaking Point

**Chapter Thirteen**

"You've got to concentrate on something _happy_ Daniel!"

"Those things have been in short supply lately, if you haven't noticed."

"Then go back farther! You've got to have _something_ good enough."

It was a bright Saturday in April and Daniel had unfortunately spent most of it indoors. Homework had piled up obscenely and he hadn't spoken to most of his friends in weeks (except for the usual requests for books or parchment or answers to the questions). Selene, noticing that Travis had marks on his face from falling asleep on his most recent essay, suggested a break and Daniel readily agreed. He was not so keen on her suggested recreation.

"Try it again Daniel," she said.

Daniel screwed up his face fishing for something happy. He rooted around until he settled on one several years back, when Gryffindor had pulled out a miraculous win for the Quiddich Cup. He pointed his wand to the ceiling. "_EXPECTO PATRONUS!" _he bellowed. Nothing happened. Nothing magical at least. Travis laughed so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair, Selene rolled her eyes, and several nervous First-Years nearly jumped a foot and quickly took refuge in their Dormitories.

"You're not trying hard enough Daniel. You need to relax more. You're too tense," said Selene.

"Am I? Do you think?" asked Daniel with heavy sarcasm. He sighed and randomly pointed his wand across the Common Room and garbled out the words, "Expetus Portronium!" A nearby lamp exploded, sending the few remaining First Years running.

* * *

"Do you really think it's that bad?" asked Daniel. "Not being able to produce a Patronus I mean?"

Travis shrugged. "Well, I know where Selene's coming from. You-Know-Who's rampaging every-which-where and Dementors are one of his biggest weapons."

"I _know_ you're not talking so casually about the Dark Lord, kid."

Travis turned on his heel looking quite ready with a few choice words. One look at the speaker and her companions and the words died. His eyes narrowed. Daniel turned and felt even worse. This day was _not_ looking up.

Pansy Parkinson, the Carrow's golden girl, was standing with an incredibly smug look on her face, which made her look (if possible) even uglier. Standing behind her were the hulking Crabbe and Goyle, apparently taking their marching orders from her in Malfoy's absence (his betrayal the previous year was well known and rumors of his current whereabouts ranged from sensible to ridiculous).

"Seriously, how thick could you be?" Parkinson continued, smirking horribly. "The Dark Lord's won by now. Harry Potter's hiding in some hole in the ground and anyone who's against the Lord is seriously out of their mind."

"Get stuffed," snapped Travis. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" the Slytherin's eyes narrowed maliciously. "I know perfectly well what games you little kids are playing. Sneaking out at night. Trying to make an _army_?"

Daniel felt his insides fall down to his shoes. Did the Slytherins know about Dumbledore's Army? Did the Carrows? Was Pansy just making fun of them? He swallowed and tried to steady his voice. "If you think that, then you're even dumber than a garden gnome," he said.

"That'd be convincing if you weren't sweating like a pig," cackled Pansy. "Ohh, don't think I don't know about your little friends. Luny Lovegood? That filthy blood traitor Weasley? Their bodies are probably being used as warnings for the next idiots who try to take on the Death Eaters."

"Shows how much you know," said Travis triumphantly and Daniel likewise felt a sense of security, safe with the knowledge that Pansy was wrong about that bit of taunting at least.

"What about that Longbottom idiot then?" she snarled. "Seen him around lately?"

"Of course," said Travis. "Just last Monday."

"For the last few days though? I heard that the Carrows had enough of him last Thursday. Decided his pure-blood statues wasn't enough to protect him, that he was more trouble than he was worth. What?" she added smiling nastily at the looks on their faces. "Didn't you know? I guess traitors don't get great funerals…"

"STUPEFY!"  
"CONFRINGO!"

"EXPULSO!"  
"EXPELLIARMUS!"  
"JUST TRY THAT AGAIN YOU SON OF A – "  
"PROFESSOR CARROW! COME QUICK!"

The hallway was filled with a great deal of noise and movement. Travis had tried to Stun Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle countered with Blasting and Exploding Curses respectively. Daniel automatically tried to disarm them. Goyle's wand merely jerked in his hand, but was moved enough to prevent the curse from hitting Travis. It flew just to his left and blew up a section of the wall, narrowly missing a portrait of a surly-looking minstrel who began shouting abuse at everyone within listening distance. Crabbe's curse missed as well because of the mayhem and blew up a statue of an Athenian youth; the head was knocked from the body and flew through the air, screaming the entire time. Travis, in a rage, tried to tackle Crabbe while screaming at him and Daniel tried to figure out if there was any way on Earth for them to escape and somehow survive any form of Slytherin revenge. Any narrow hope for that was dashed when Pansy shouted for the Carrows to come. One look at her gloating face told him all that he needed to know. She knew, or at least suspected, that they were involved with Dumbledore's Army.

Daniel's head was pounding but he knew that there wasn't much time left. Escape was imperative now. He shoved his wand into his pocket and pulled Travis off of Crabbe.

"What is it?" asked Travis furiously. His face had large black and blue patches already forming on it, but now was not the time to worry about that.

"Are you deaf? We have to go!" shouted Daniel.

"My wand…"

"It's here," Daniel said, literally shoving it into his friend's hand. "Now GO!"

They turned to find their way blocked by Pansy. "Don't make me hex you," said Daniel furiously, raising his wand.

"Y'aint hexing no one Waters!"

Daniel blanched and then suddenly had a very good view of the floor. Amycus Carrow had somehow managed to grab him around the neck with one hand, bend him over to the floor, and was wresting his wand away with the other hand. Peripheral vision allowed Daniel to see Travis being granted the same treatment with Crabbe and Goyle (though Travis was swearing fluently and struggling more). Daniel suddenly felt a great release of pressure from his neck and found that he could stand upright again. Amycus had released him, having snatched Daniel's wand away. Daniel considered running for it, but the instant the idea entered his head, Goyle grabbed him tightly by the arm.

"Right then," snarled Amycus dangerously. "What happened 'ere miss?"

Pansy was faking tears and trying (and failing) to look innocent and scared. "Oh Professor," she sobbed, "It was horrid! We were walking down the hallway and those two…those two _Gryffindors_ came running up. They screamed that our parents were evil and we deserved to die and…" Pansy trailed off in a flurry of completely fake tears.

"There there missy," said Amycus, trying to seem comforting and achieving only terrifying. "I'll see to it that those two get what's comin' to them. You two," he added, addressing Daniel and Travis, "are off to me office NOW!" Daniel grimaced as he was virtually dragged off by Goyle, Crabbe dragging Travis at their side. The last he saw of the scene was Pansy smiling wickedly through her faked tears.


End file.
